Product for covering highway joints



Nov. 30, 1937.

FIG. l.

FIG. 3.

FIGS.

w. c. FERGUSON 2,100,387

PRODUCT FOR COVERING HGHWAY .TOTNTS Filed Nov. 15, 1954 Patented Nov. 30, 1937 APfrENT OFFICE lamarsi PRODUCT FOR COVERING HIGHWAY JOINTS William C. Ferguson, St. Louis, Mo.` v

Application November 1 "f .2 claims.

This invention relates to a method of covering highway Vjoints and the like', and also to the product of said method, and with regard to certain more specic features, to a mending tape for sealing joints and cracks in` roadways and the like.

A,Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision of economical means for sealing either new expansion joints or old contraction cracks in highways and the like; the

` provision of means of the class described which is lparticularly applicable to concrete and asphalt highways; the provision of means of the class described which will accommodate expansion and contraction ofthe joint; the provision of means ofthis class which may be pre-fabricated at a rmanufacturing establishment and then applied in the field in straight or curved forms with no specialized equipment; the provision of means` of this class which will not slip and become detached by the action of tralc, but which will improve with age and with traflic conditions. Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the steps and sequence of steps, the elements and combinations of elements, features of construction, vand arrangements of parts whichwll be exemplified in the structures hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing,'in which is illustrated one of various possible embodiments of the invention,

` Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of the certain fabric employed in the invention;

Fig. 2 is avview similar to Fig. 1 showing that the fabric has been impregnated with asphalt;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing that the Vfabric has had a wearing surface applied thereto;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing that the fabric has had the bottomrside scraped to condition it for use;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section showing the assembly for shipment of two pieces of the product, and showing at the left the same being torn apart prior to application;

Fig. 6 is a section of an expansion joint showing my protective material applied'thereto, said section being taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 7; and,

Fig. 7 is aplan view on a reduced scale showing my protective material applied to an expansion joint. j

Similar reference characters indicate corre- 5, 1934, Serial No. 753,147

spending parts throughout the several views of the drawing. It is known that concrete and like highways are laid with expansion joints formed at intervals laterally and along the center of the highway. t' These are what may be called predetermined expansion joints. Asphalt highways and old conf crete highways also have spontaneously formed therein contraction joints which take the form of cracks. Whether the expansion joints are regular or irregular, predetermined or spontaneous, they present the problem of a recess in which moisture collects and undermines the foundation of the roadway.

Heretofore, these joints have had asphalt or the like poured into them. This 'procedure is not always satisfactory, because if the asphalt is poured while the roadway is cold, it hardens and remains in the upper regions of the joints, and upon warming settles down irregularly to again form a recess for moisture. Furthermore, the working of the joints upon heat and cooling tends to work openings in the asphalt which has been poured into the joint. Thus disintegration and decay set in. i

Inthe case of new concrete highways, exible metal sheaths-have been proposed and used in the joints. These are inserted uponlaying the highway. It is obvious, however, that this method is not applicable to spontaneous cracks, or to old highways, nor is it successful inthe case of asphalt highways in general. -In any case it is complicated to apply and also costly.

My present invention provides an economical, quick and clean means for sealing the joints against seepage, the said means remaining in its original position and improving in its functions with age.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown at numeral I a layer of canvas duck cloth, preferably `of about twelve to fourteen vounces in weight. This material is cut into strips of suitable width. depending upon the classof expansion joints to which it is to be applied. For instance, widths of two, four, six, eight inches, etc.' are suitable. It is to be understood that while canvas duck hasbeen found to be a suitable fabric for this use, that other equivalents of this fabric may be used.

Thefabric base is saturated with asphalt 3, as shown in Fig. 2, the same covering both faces of the fabric and penetrating all of the interstices. An asphalt of high melting point and of low penetration value is used Which'will withstand the abuse of trafllc and weather conditions.

Next, the asphalt-impregnated fabric I, 3 has an upper surface applied thereto composed of more of said asphalt but admixed with trap rock, as shown at numeral 5 (Fig. 3).

'I'he layer 5 is preferably only thick enough to provide a wearing surface which will protect the fabric from traillc wear. It is preferably composed of fifteen to twenty per cent asphalt and eighty-five to eighty per cent of trap rock. The asphalt in the upper layer 5 ad the asphalt impregnation of the fabric I intermingle and form a bond. 'Ihe layer 5 forms a wearing surface which protects the fabric I. It is to be understood that said layer 5 may comprise other wearresisting materials.

I have found that if the product shown in Fig. 3 be laid over a joint in a roadway, that the excessive part of the impregnated material 3 shown at .numeral 'I in Fig. 3, particularly on warm days, functions as a lubricant which, when tangential thrust is applied to the surface 5, causes the strip as a whole to be readily displaced. A tangential thrust may come about, for instance, by means of a wheel which is skidding, or the traction of a driving wheel.

In view of the above, the excessive impregnating material 1 is scraped from the bottom of the fabric I, as shown in Fig. 4. 'I'he result is a strip of impregnated fabric thelower surface of which constitutes exposed fabric for application to and above joints. The amount of material removed from the bottom of the fabric I is, as shown in Fig. 4, enough to expose `asubstantial thread area of the fabric I so thatff'th'e same may subsequently actually touch the roadway when the strip is applied thereto.

` In order to facilitate transportation of the strips to the point of use, two of them are laid with the bottom or scraped fabric side face to face as shown in Fig. 5 and pressed together as shown at the right of said Fig. 5. 'I'he plural strips may then be wound or otherwise arranged for packaging and for transportation.

To prevent the asphalt of the protective layer 5 from becoming tacky, the surface of the layer 5 is treated with a talc. As to the lower, scraped facey of the fabric, tackiness is not eliminated, because tackiness is desirable at this area after the layers are separated and immediately before application, as indicated at the left in Fig. 5. The scraped, `tacky surfaces being unexposed during transportation, offer no disadvantages.

Upon arrival at the point of use, the two composite strips (lettered A and B in Fig. 5l are pulled. apart, as shown at the left of Fig. 5. The separation causes the asphalt on the scraped side of the fabric to be slightly pulled out into the tooth-like structure shown at numeral 9 which, when the strip is applied to the roadway, effects interlocking with the minute irregularities in said roadway, without forming a continuous lubricating fllm. The tooth-like particles yextend into the recesses, permitting the fabric I to ultimately seat itself upon the higher portions surrounding the minute recesses in the roadway (Fig. 6). lUnder conditions Where the impregnating asphalt is not scraped off as shown in Fig. 3, the excess amount spaces the fabric away from the roadway, thus fully floating it and providing the undesirable warm weather lubricating qualities which are eliminated by permitting the fabric to touch the roadway, but so arranging what little asphalt is on the bottom of the fabric that it forms a tooth in the roadway.

deviations of a more general character having long radii and curvatures, are taken care of by the plastic quality of the strip which may be bent in the plane of the strip, one way or the other, to follow the general curvature of the joint. 'I'he end joints are preferably of the lap type, but may, if desired, be of the butt type.

After laying the strip, it is tamped down, either by walking on it or otherwise, and thereafter the weight of the vehicles passing thereover continually forces it more and more compactly into the desirable leak-proof position fiat against the material of the roadway and bridgingthe joint.

The material may be applied at any temperature. If it is applied while the temperature is low, a subsequent rise will cause the joints to become smaller and the strip to assume the bowed conformation such as shown in Fig. 6. It will bow downwardly, because of the traiiic passing thereover. f

If the strip is laid While hot, and subsequent cooling sets in, there is enough stretch in the i accompanied by leakage, because of the intimatecharacter of the contact between the strip and the roadway. 'I'he force involved in this adjustment is greater than that caused by trafiic and the latter will not cause slip. Furthermore, the traiiic which passes over quickly fastens down the strip in its altered position. After adjustment has taken place for the coldest condition, thereafter further lateral adjusting slipping does not take place because subsequent heating causes the condition shown in Fig. 6.

From the above it will be seen that among the advantages of the invention are the following:

1. The strip effects a perfectly watertight covering which remains in the position relative to the joint at which it was placed at the time of application. It does not gradually work down into the joint and effect a sump for further gathering of moisture. No freezing of moisture can take place within the joint to cause disintegration, nor can deterioration set in at the base of the joint.

2. The material adjusts itself to all temperature conditions without introducing leakage. Furthermore, it is of such a flexibility that it does not ultimately break due to fatigue. In this respect, it Will be appreciated that the .asphalt is a substance which, under all temperatures is of a plastic or owing nature and thus tends constantly to correct by breakage.

3. The strip doesnot slip or skid from its position over the joint. y It will hold tenaciously, even against abusive forces, such as the action of a skidding and/or locked wheel sliding thereover. However, under great enough forces of contraction of the road material it will adjust itself.

4. The material may be pre-fabricated under factory conditions and applied with great slmplicity under the adverse conditions met with on highways. It ywill be appreciated thatA the elimination of any complications in applying a substance to a joint for repair work is vital. because infiowing any incipient of the requirement that trame be not too much interfered with.

5. 'I'he product per se is simple in construction and may be economically made so that it is cheaper to the consumer, even with its advantages.

6. If, and when the material requires replacement, due to accidental mutilation or long service, the old strip may readily be removed by the introduction of a fiat spade-like tool thereunder (with or without heat) and movement of the same along the strip, and application oi' a new strip. v

It will be understood that the drawing is exaggerated in its dimensions in order to clearly bring out features .of the invention and that actually the strip is thin enough so as to cause no inconvenience to traffic. It is of the order of one-eighth inch thick when laid.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a cover strip for joints in roadways and the like comprising a tacky surface for said second-named fabric surface, whereby said strip, when applied to a roadway, adheres thereto with the second-named fabric surface directly juxtaposing the roadway surface without substantial amounts of asphalt therebetween.

2. ,As an article of manufacture, a cover strip for joints in roadways and the like comprising a strip of fabric impregnated with tacky asphalt in such manner that one surface of said fabric is substantially entirely covered with asphalt, while the other surface of said fabric is substantially all exposed, and free from asphalt, the asphalt, however, penetrating the interstices of said fabric in such manner that it presents a tacky surface 'for said second-named fabric surface, whereby said strip, when applied to a roadway, adheres thereto with the second-named fabric surface directly juxtaposing the roadway surface without substantial amounts of asphalt therebetween, and a coating of protective material on said strip surmounting the asphalt on the first-named fabric surface.

WILLIAM C. FERGUSON. 

